Vegan Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake

We asked you all on Twitter what recipes you wanted to see for May and June, and the most popular request by far was Strawberry Shortcake! I like you guys.

I did quite a bit of research for this recipe but ended up having to do just a couple of tweaks to the recipe before it was perfect.

Let’s not waste any time. On to the shortcakes!

This recipe is simple, using easy-to-master methods and 10 basics ingredients you likely have on hand right now. Plus, they come together in less than 1 hour!

The shortcakes are adapted from my Best Damn Vegan Biscuits – a reader favorite. I made a few modifications, including a thicker vegan “buttermilk” of coconut milk instead of almond milk. And I made them gluten-free with a mix of my gluten-free flour blend, almond flour, and cornstarch.

The result is a seriously fluffy, tender shortcake that’s perfect for strawberries and coconut whipped cream.

These shortcakes bake up beautifully. I was so happy to see them rise well and brown on the outside. They formed a nice crust on the outside (swoon!), yet remained tender and fluffy on the inside.

All that’s left to do is let these babies cool. Then we get to the important part: toppings!

Instructions

In a measuring cup or small mixing bowl, combine coconut milk, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, and vanilla (optional). Stir to combine and set aside.

To a large mixing bowl, add gluten-free flour blend, almond flour, cornstarch, organic cane sugar, sea salt, and baking powder and whisk to combine. Add the coconut oil and use a pastry cutter, whisk, or fork to "cut" the oil into the flour until small bits remain.

Add ¾ of the coconut buttermilk to the dry mixture and stir with a spoon to combine. You're looking for a semi-sticky dough, and you may not use all of the coconut milk. I used all but 1-2 Tbsp (as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size).

If your mixture looks too dry, add more coconut milk. If it looks too wet, compensate with 1-2 Tbsp at a time of almond flour or gluten-free flour blend. (see photo)

Transfer your dough onto a well (gluten-free) floured surface and dust the top with a little gluten-free flour. Handling as little as possible, form into a 1-inch-thick disc with your hands. Then using a well-floured biscuit or cookie cutter (or narrow drinking glass), cut out circles and transfer carefully to a greased baking sheet (arranging the shortcakes so they touch - see photo). Continue, reforming dough as needed, until all of the dough is used - about 6 shortcakes (as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size).

Brush the tops of the shortcakes with coconut milk or melted coconut oil and sprinkle with a bit more cane sugar. Oil will help them form more of a crust, whereas coconut milk will help the biscuits remain a bit more moist. Both work great!

Bake at 400 F for 15-17 minutes or until the outside is crisp and they are beginning to brown slightly. Then increase heat to 450 F (232 C) and bake for another 3-5 minutes to brown the outside (see photo). Watch carefully and be sure not to burn.

During this time, you can prepare your Coconut Whipped Cream (optional) and slice your strawberries. Sprinkle strawberries with sugar or stevia to sweeten + help create a sauce (optional).

Remove biscuits from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Then carefully separate the shortcakes so they can cool completely. It's important to let these cool and the steam to release or they can be a bit on the moist side. Room temperature is best for serving.

To serve, carefully slice shortcakes in half (optional) and top with sliced strawberries and coconut whipped cream or ice cream.

Best when fresh. Store leftover shortcakes covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the freezer up to 1 month.

Notes

*If subbing your own GF blend or store-bought, know that the final result may differ.*If nut-free, you could try subbing the almond flour for another gluten-free flour, such as oat flour. However, I haven't tested it this way and can't guarantee the results.*If not gluten-free, sub the gluten-free flour blend, almond flour, and cornstarch for unbleached all purpose flour (or gluten flour of choice). I haven't tested this recipe this way and can't guarantee the results.*You can try subbing the cane sugar for coconut sugar or stevia to taste, but I haven’t tested it this way and can’t guarantee the results.*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with strawberries and without coconut whipped cream.

These were PERFECT!!! Strawberry shortcakes are a big favorite at out house and I have struggled to find a gluten free, vegan recipe since our little one was diagnosed with food allergies. These did not disappoint. . . pure shortcake perfection!!! Thank you for all you do! My kiddos would starve if it wasn’t for your website. . . and cookbook!

Sublime! I made these today, and they were a big hit with the whole family (including my husband who normally snubs GF and vegan desserts.) I was particularly surprised how much he enjoyed the whipped cream. I used Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose flour. I would also comment that I didn’t need all the coconut buttermilk and wish I had read more carefully about not pouring the whole thing in at once. Despite adding a bunch of extra flour to compensate, they came out beautifully.

So tasty! My non-gf hubby approved as well. I completely missed that you linked to your own flour blend (will have to try that too) so I used Bob’s Red meal 1-to-1 flour (the blue bag not the red) and their almond flour too. Alas, I only had lite coconut milk in the pantry so my coconut cream was runny (I usually have a can of coconut cream around, time for a Trader Joe’s run!). The shortbread was just about perfect, mine had a slight (very) slight biscuit-y taste, and I think that’s because of my flour (it still tasted good and the texture was spot on). Thanks for doing all the trial runs on this so I can finally have a good shortbread recipe to go to!

Easy and great. I used already made coconut whipped cream from the store just to cut down on time and I didn’t add any sugar to the strawberries. The little rounds came out moist and yummy. Great recipe.

Hi Dana! Quick question. Have you ever tried recreating Italian Anisette cookies to be vegan and reminiscent of the originals? I’ve been looking at your dessert recipes trying to figure it out for myself, but I’m not very knowledgable, so I’m not sure where to start. The recipes I’ve seen so far on google call for things like flax eggs, which substantially alter the texture of the cookies, so I’ve been trying to find another way to make them thats closer to the original. There’s probably a better mode to ask questions like this than on a recipe comment section, so apologies in advance, but any advice you’d be able to offer would be very helpful.

Thanks so much for this recipe! My husband is gluten free and this was a big hit! I loved it too! We are not dairy free so I used regular buttermilk and whipped cream. I also substituted organic coconut palm sugar and they were delicious! Can’t wait to make it again:)

Hi! We recommend having your biscuits touch when cooking, as it helps them to rise up nice and high. They’ll obviously still rise just fine without that step, but you will notice a difference if having them touch. Hope this helps!

I made these tonight with wheat flour and they are so good that I ate strawberry shortcake until my stomach hurt! I added the optional vanilla and used all of the “buttermilk.” My husband, who is not vegan, said he couldn’t taste the difference between these and biscuits containing dairy. Can’t wait to serve the next batch to friends!

I’m back! (I commented above)…I made them a second time (because I love them so much) I used coconut milk this time and coconut sugar. I like that the coconut sugar is less sweet, I prefer it to the original recipe. I accidentally made my dough wetter than last time and they aren’t as good. So just a heads up to others who make this! The first time my dough was pretty dry I was a little worried but it made them flaky and crispy!

These were delicious! I used Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 gf flour and light coconut milk. I forgot the step of brushing the tops with oil or milk and they still browned nicely! I made them for Mother’s Day and they were a huge hit with everyone. I topped them with So Delicious Cocowhip, the full fat version. Yummy!!

I made this and added a little coconut flour in order to use all the liquid portion. subbed one TBL of coconut oil for ghee. Used erythritol as the sweetener (and used a little less than recipe calls for). These were tasty and really easy!! Thank you for the recipe! We were inspired by the first strawberries of the season at the farmer’s market and had to make something immediately.

Hi Sarah! If not gluten-free, sub the gluten-free flour blend, almond flour, and cornstarch for unbleached all purpose flour (or gluten flour of choice). We haven’t tested this recipe this way and can’t guarantee the results. Report back on how it goes!

Yum! I picked 6 pounds of strawberries this weekend and wanted to share strawberry shortcake with my gf partner. She was so happy and literally licked her plate at the end! I didn’t have all the ingredients so made some substitutions… 3/4 oat flour and 1/4 coconut flour for the almond flour. Subbed milk for coconut milk, and used Bob’s red mill gf flour. Turned out delicious! Thanks!

I’m sooo excited to try this for my brother in law’s birthday tomorrow (since he’s obsessed with strawberries and he’s mentioned this is his favorite dessert!). I was wondering if you can make this ahead of time and then lightly heat up in oven before serving?? Also, the coconut milk, you are referring to the canned one, right? Should I refrigerate the can first or does it not matter?